BLOG: Why Microsoft will never catch Google or Apple

Alan Shimel |
Jan. 7, 2014

It's all about the apps and delivery.

At the end of the day, my kids and many of their friends are not as hung up on whether the device is an Apple, Android, or Windows device. They care about the apps and the content. No matter how good Microsoft makes Windows, it is meaningless if they don't have the apps and infrastructure in place.

My kids' patience ran out pretty quickly waiting for the Microsoft content to download. While they were happy on the way home that I had stored a few movies on the Windows box, if they had to wait for the download I am afraid Windows would not have made the cut.

While Windows in all of its flavors continues to develop on many fronts, including security, Microsoft needs to put substantial time and resources in building out the rest of the experience. Their servers should not be lagging behind Google and Apples in delivery. That is just unacceptable and a deal breaker. I am not sure what to do about app diversity, though. What can they do to incentivize app developers to develop for the Windows platform? They seem to have cracked the code for Xbox, but most app developers I speak to don't develop for Windows and don't have any plans to.

There is, of course, one easy answer - bring more users to the platform and the developers will follow. But in a case of chicken and egg, how do you get more users without more apps?

Until Microsoft can shore up their network and bring more apps and better delivery, though, I can assure that they are never going to catch Apple and Google for the hearts, minds and wallets of users.